Hi, Buccaneers fans! Our Tampa Bay Buccaneers are into their 2016 off-season until their training camp begins by late July, but the Tampa Bay Rays will play baseball this Spring and Summer, and also seek to improve from their fourth place, 80-82 record from their 2015 MLB season, and aim to win the American League East in 2016.

Spring training begins in Mid-February, when all the players report down the Gulf Coast in Port Charlotte. Rays play the Washington Senators in their first exhibition game on Wednesday afternoon, March 3. Rays later start the long 162-game regular season as they host the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday afternoon, April 3, at Tropicana Field.

I know I'm making a belated post but I'm glad this whole ordeal has finally come to an end. I just wish it hadn't taken over 6 calendar years and 2 St. Petersburg mayors. How much more money this is going to cost now as opposed to when we first started talking about getting a new ballpark to begin with? This is gonna be what, at least an extra $50 million because of the scorched earth approach to the subject? The St. Pete taxpayers rejected the new "sailboat" ballpark well before 2010 and then said, "We have a lease. The Trop is just fine. Go look for a place to build in the same city that refused to pay for a less expensive project to begin with." I hope Stu and the boys get to work on it and find a couple of places where they want to build by this time next year.

So I'm about to renew mine and my grandson's season tix and every year I ask myself, "Why am I doing this?"

Losing Price and Zobrist were horrible but KK made up for some of it. However, it's not enough this season. So, I go to the masses - what am I looking forward to seeing this year that I am overlooking. Don't say Longo. That's a given.

Here's a flashback to his first season. And yes, he's still the youngest Rays season tix holder.

According to MLB Network's Joel Sherman, the Tampa Bay Rays have traded reliever Jake McGee to the Colorado Rockies for left fielder Corey Dickerson with some minor league players involved in the deal.

pewterpirates wrote:According to MLB Network's Joel Sherman, the Tampa Bay Rays have traded reliever Jake McGee to the Colorado Rockies for left fielder Corey Dickerson with some minor league players involved in the deal.

pewterpirates wrote:According to MLB Network's Joel Sherman, the Tampa Bay Rays have traded reliever Jake McGee to the Colorado Rockies for left fielder Corey Dickerson with some minor league players involved in the deal.

Career .300 hitter, age 26, cheap....

****. Yes.

Look at his stats hitting at the Coors Park launching pad versus any other park. Scares me a bit.

Looks like what was drawn up before Vinik got ahold of downtown Tampa and decided to mold it in his image. Is this stadium concept even plausible? I'm looking at anywhere they can build a new ballpark and the options are pretty much down to nothing. If they find a square space of land to build a stadium, they're gonna have a hell of a time to arrange parking. They're gonna need buses, ferries and a lot of space that needs to be leveled off.

I'm glad the Rays are getting a chance in Hillsborough but downtown Tampa seems to be the most ambitious and difficult site.

Teitan wrote:Outdoor would not work here. Would have to be at least retractable.

Exactly. Doing an outdoor-only stadium would be ill-advised. It needs to be a retractable roof, like the one proposed several years ago.

That's the talk here in Texas for the Rangers. Will their next stadium be indoor/retractable? Because going to games in the 100's, especially day games, is brutal. We don't have to worry about the storms that Tampa Bay area gets, but the heat makes games almost unbearable to sit through.